


Speak

by WeAllFlyHigh



Series: Duplicate [5]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Dynamics, M/M, Parental OC, Unplanned Introduction to the Parent, cloning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25867363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeAllFlyHigh/pseuds/WeAllFlyHigh
Summary: Mathew and Gilbert have a date and then a long night together planned. Things don’t go as planned.
Relationships: Canada/Prussia (Hetalia)
Series: Duplicate [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580686
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	Speak

Peaceful classical music played on nearby speakers. It was just audible over the murmurs of the surrounding crowd. Gilbert thought it might be Mozart and cursed Roderich for making him know that. Blue light filled the tank and spilled over into Mathew’s hair. His golden hair wore the shades of blue well. He looked like an undersea prince.

Mathew was oblivious to his beauty and his admirer. He was captivated by the spotted jellyfish drifting though their tank. He had the softest smile. It was still early into their date, but Gilbert was tempted to call it a success already.

He had known the date would be a success the moment he suggested it. Mathew’s violet eyes sparked with interest. He immediately told Gilbert that he loved aquariums and hadn’t been to one since before he started university. With the suggestion of a date, Mathew had taken off and started making plans.

They’d worked hard all week finishing papers and speed reading with coffee that had long gone cold at hand. All to have a truly free day. And now they were reaping their rewards.

Mathew met Gilbert’s eyes. His gentle smile widened into something brighter and loving. He squeezed Gilbert’s hand. “Having fun?”

“Yeah,” Gilbert said sounding much more breathless than he intended to.

“Have you actually been looking at anything other than me?” Gilbert only smiled. Mathew laughed. “Come on.” He pulled him away from the tank. They waded through crowds of people. Occasionally they had to abruptly swerve to avoid a wild child. To not lose each other, they had to stay close, much to Gilbert’s delight.

His palms were long past the point of getting sweaty at the slightest brush of Mathew’s hand. But his heart still flipped delightedly at their touch. He never felt so awesome or awestruck as he did when he was Mathew.

They stepped to the side to let a stroller by them. Mathew pressed into his side and looked up at him. Gilbert hoped for a kiss but accepted the words Mathew gave him. “You know, the aquarium where we grew up had polar bears.”

“Oh really?”

Mathew smiled angelically back at him. “They were my favorite.”

“Well do you want a polar bear souvenir?”

“I don’t need anything Gil,” Mathew said shaking his head. Of course, he didn’t. Mathew didn’t really _need_ anything. His parents had already provided everything they thought he needed. There was nothing wrong with that. It wasn’t a problem. It didn’t bother him. Gilbert wasn’t so insecure in his relationship that he felt envious of is boyfriend’s family. But Gilbert wanted to spoil him, just a little. He wanted a pleased little sighs, surprised gasps, and delighted smiles for himself.

“Not even a cute little plush?”

“What would I even do with it?”

“Cuddle it and think of me?” Mathew turned pink. It was a beautiful blush. He was so cute. Gilbert simultaneously felt his insides jump, scream joyfully, and melt.

“Um…yeah that would be nice. Of course, you could always just come over.” Gilbert’s pale skin was utterly hopeless at hiding his blush. That was the plan for tonight. Alfred had vowed that they wouldn’t see hide or hair of him. They wouldn’t hear a peep. He had even made Mathew promise to leave his phone off all day so that nothing else could disturb them. Mathew had protested, workaholic that he was, but he had relented in the end. 

Mathew stepped in front of another tank. Anemones swayed in an artificial tide as brightly colored fish darted about. “Did you go aquariums when you were younger?”

Gilbert wrapped his arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “Well sometimes. But more often my dad would take us fishing. We’d go camping, hiking in the mountains, that kind of stuff. He likes the wilderness. He’s pretty big on self-sufficiency too, so we spent a couple summers at our grandfathers farm.”

“Really?” Mathew sounded astonished that kids could really be sent away to farms, like that sort of thing only happened in movies and coming of age novels. Gilbert chuckled at his memories.

“Yeah. Don’t tell Ludwig I told you this, but this one time our grandfather went fishing with us. The night before we’d snuck downstairs to watch horror movies. His hearing was so bad that he didn’t have a clue. Then the next morning at the crack of dawn my dad comes and we all go to the lake. Well boat was so crowded and we were so tired that Ludwig fell off right into the middle. As soon as he hit the water, he started screaming about monsters dragging him in. I awesomely jumped in to save him. We came out with weeds, sludge all over us, and smelled like lake water for a week.”

Gilbert started to laugh so hard he had to stop talking to breathe. Mathew took advantage of this. “I’m surprised that Ludwig was a bit of a cry baby when he was little.”

“Oh, he wasn’t. I think that’s why my dad didn’t jump in after him. He’d taught us to swim when we were very little, and we’d been swimming in that lake alone since we were knee high. Then for no reason that he can see, Ludwig’s just screaming. I think he was shocked.” Gilbert snorted with laughter. “He put two and two together pretty quickly and grounded us both.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Oh, but here’s the really funny part. Since we were staying with our grandfather there was no way to enforce our grounding. So, he took the whole TV with him because at least then we’d get a little bit of a punishment. It was one of the old big ones. He had to rent a levy just to get it out of the house and the neighbors had to help. It took all afternoon. My grandpa didn’t even care. He just listened to radio shows all night long and when my dad came to bring it back, after he had to go through the whole process of loading it back in and bringing it back, he complained the whole time like it was some brand-new contraption that he didn’t want or need.”

Mathew chuckled into his hand. “What about you? Did you ever go camping,” Gilbert asked.

“Oh no. My parents aren’t really the type. We did go on a lot of company trips though.”

Gilbert wanted to roll his eyes. Of course, his parents thought that counted as a vacation. “What were those like?”

“Kind of boring. They were business trips, so my parents were pretty busy. But they were all at big resorts so there would always be a pool and stuff. One of our nannies taught us to swim in one of them.”

They moved back into the crowd. Gilbert kept his arm around Mathew so they could hear each other and also because he simply loved to hold him. “That’s kind of cool. Where were the resorts?”

“Cancun, Hawaii, a lot of times in Las Vegas.”

“Oh? Did you ever do a little gambling?” Gilbert shook Mathew lightly and wagged his eyebrows. Mathew rolled his eyes.

“I wasn’t old enough.”

“Hey, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, doesn’t it?”

Mathew caught his eyes in the reflection of a fish tank. He wore a very serious expression, except for how the corner of his lips twitched with the urge to smile. “Not to that degree. Besides, my parents don’t really approve of gambling. It’s wasteful.”

“Why even go then? Surely, somewhere else would be more cost effective?”

“Because other people like to. My dad says you should always do a little bit to be social. So, he taught us to play blackjack. Other than that, my mom says that if we want to do some gambling, we should do it on the stock market.”

They moved away from the tank to make room for a little girl with pigtails. “Geez, no fun at all.”

Mathew tilted his head to a dismissive angle. “She’s a very detail-oriented kind of person.”

“Kind of like you then?”

“Am I?”

“You have every part of this date planned down to ten-minute increments, in case of foot traffic is slow.”

“Oh I…” Mathew started to tense, curling in on himself. Gilbert instantly ran his hand up and down Mathew’s spine, soothing away his doubts.

“I don’t mind. It just shows you’re serious about this. You want to have fun and you’re doing everything to ensure that. And more importantly, you really want to have fun with me.” Gilbert beamed. “You’re not the type to waste your time.”

Mathew blushed. He looked too cute. Really someone should notify the police. If Mathew got any cuter he would be lethal to large sections of the population or at least to Gilbert. If he wasn’t worried about taking some kids sticky elbow to the back, he would be kissing him. Instead he pulled Mathew even closer.

“I guess that’s true,” the blond replied.

Gilbert started steering Mathew towards the gift shop. Mathew sent him a jugdey look but didn’t say a word about it. “Did you ever go anywhere else?”

“Yeah, we went to Hong Kong and Paris, they weren’t strictly business functions but…”

“Did you ever go anywhere just for fun?”

Mathew lite up. “Montreal. My mom’s parents are from there. It’s why we know French.”

Gilbert tore his eyes away from a shelf filled with fluffy toys. “What, you speak French?”

“Yes…I did I not mention that?”

“No!”

Mathew toyed with a necklace, twirling the chain around a finger. “Do you want to hear some?”

“Mattie, I’ve heard French before. Francis is one of my best friends.” Gilbert grinned at him. “But I love to listen to your voice. Maybe you can say some things for me later?” He reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind Mathew’s ear. He let his fingers linger on Mathew’s soft skin and trail down his neck. Mathew giggled and fluttered his eyelashes as he leaned into the touch.

\--

He’s calling it, the date was a success. Aquarium? Success. Dinner? Success. The little plush even had its own seat at their little dinner table and every time Mathew looked at it he would smile and get pink. And every time Gilbert saw that his chest would swell with pride. He’d done that. He had put that smile on his face and he hadn’t needed any help to do it.

In fact, Gilbert learned early on that Mather was rather unimpressed with the cliché gifts and phrases typical of romance. It was all too rehearsed for him. But he loved spontaneous genuine affections. Animal crackers between classes, shared sips of new barista creations, and random complements to his fingers and his margin doodles; those were all ways to his heart and that is something Gilbert worked to excel at.

So yeah, it’s all smooth sailing from here. Except that something far from sailing will be happening.

Gilbert couldn’t fully contain his grin as they arrived at Mathew’s building. His lips kept twitching upwards every time he managed to act like he wasn’t positively thrilled to be coming home with Mathew. The doorman was so used to seeing Gilbert’s scuffed shoes and torn jeans he no longer acted like his presence insulted him. Instead he was in the habit of pretending Gilbert didn’t exist.

Their fingers brushed against each other as they entered the elevator. Mathew glanced at him from underneath his thick lashes. Gilbert swallowed thickly. He could feel a blush rise on his cheeks as his blood heated up. Just the thought of pressing his lips against Mathew’s… oh he yearned for it. He knew their taste, knew how soft they were. He could never forget it and he always wanted it.

Mathew’s lips curved upwards as he gave Gilbert an answering look. His tongue darted out to run along his lips. Gilbert watched breathlessly. Mathew slipped his hand into Gilbert’s and squeezed. They had to wait just a little bit longer. As soon as they were out of elevator, they would be alone.

“Have a good night Mr. Williams,” the elevator operator said as Mathew pulled Gilbert out. He raised a hand to waive goodbye and the moment the doors closed Gilbert caught it. He pushed Mathew against the wall. He slowly pressed himself against Mathew’s front, letting him feel every place that they touched. He was **happily** pinned.

He caught his lips with his own. Mathew’s lips parted instantly, welcoming his attentions. He swallowed a moan. Mathew pressed back against him, trying to get impossibly closer. As Gilbert drew back, Mathew caught his lip between his teeth. He bit down hard enough for it to sting pleasurably.

Mathew withdrew a key from his pocket turning to his door. Gilbert followed after him taking hold of his hips and running his lips along the back of Mathew’s neck. The blond shivered and laughed breathlessly. “Gilbert, I need to…” His words tailed off into a moan as Gilbert sucked on a spot high on his neck.

Trembling fingers typed in the entrance code and the door parted before them. They stumbled into the apartment. Their legs tangled and trembled around each other. Mathew turned in his arms, wrapping his arms around Gilbert’s neck. They gazed into each other’s eyes. The contrast of Mathew’s soft purple eyes and the pink in his cheeks was captivating. He was drawn closer, breathless as Mathew’s eyes fluttered. 

“Hey Mattie, next time I tell you to turn off you phone, how about you tell me to shut up?”

Mathew jumped. His forehead knocked into Gilbert’s nose. They both winced. Mathew awkwardly peeled himself away from the Gilbert. Their knees knocked into each other and they stumbled.

Gilbert prodded his nose. Well, it wasn’t bleeding at least. But what the fuck was Alfred doing here? He had promised them he would find something to do, which always meant he was with that Japanese med student he swore he wasn’t dating even though nobody believed that. Gilbert leaned against the wall as Mathew’s face went ablaze.

The blond grimaced and whirled around. Gilbert smothered a sigh. He wasn’t exactly pleased they had been interrupted either, but he wasn’t looking forward to watching Mathew and Alfred snip at each other all night. At least when he and Ludwig fought they could actually say what they meant. The Jones-Williams brothers though, they wouldn’t just let it all out if you held their feet to a fire. He’d call it unhealthy if he wasn’t ninety percent sure they weren’t speaking in some secret code half the time.

Mathew came up short in the doorway to the living room. A blond middle-aged man in a three-piece suit stood in his way.

Mathew’s red-hot anger was swept away. His hands flew through his hair, desperately trying to smooth it down. The man frowned at him. When his eyes landed on Gilbert; his eyebrows raised. He looked back at Mathew. The blonde managed to smile at him. “D-dad, I wasn’t expecting you. Was there an emergency meeting or…?”

Alfred’s head popped around the corner. “Nope! He had a stopover. Came to visit. I told him you were out, but he insisted on waiting for you. Even though I’ve been starving. You already ate right? Come on dad, there’s this new Vietnamese place a couple blocks away.” Alfred slipped his arm through his fathers and tugged while he started to pull a coat on. But his father did not move.

“No Alfred.” His voice was firm and unyielding. His eyes scanned Gilbert again, slowly, suspiciously. “I think I want to talk to your brother’s friend.” Both brother’s faces darkened. Alfred’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits while Mathew’s eyes went wide. “So, Mathew, who’s this?”

Mathew bit his lip. What could he say? He wasn’t supposed to be dating anyone, especially without his parent’s approval. But Gilbert was…he was so good. Intelligent, charming, and very clever; he was really all those things his parents would value. He just wasn’t well connected. He wet his lips, suddenly finding that his mouth was dry. “He…This is Gilbert. And this is my father George Jones.”

George did not look satisfied. “And?”

“We’re dating,” Matthew continued meekly. Alfred winced.

George, still standing in the doorway, smiled. The smile did not meet his eyes, not even close. This was the kind of smile you gave when you wanted to start screaming. “Lovely to meet you. Mathew could we speak in the other room?”

Mathew took a step, a single step, forward. He did not go to join his father. He moved in front of Gilbert and firmly said, “No.”

Mathew’s hands were balled into fists. Gilbert was sure he was the only person who was able to see that they were shaking. Behind his father Alfred tensed. George sucked in a sharp breath. He stared Mathew down for several minutes. When he refused to back down, his jaw twitched. “Very well.” He took a deep breath and launched into the lecture of a lifetime.

“Mathew, you know that there are certain expectations of you. We’ve been training you for them your entire life but that alone will not suffice. It won’t be easy. You need someone who’s capable of assisting you.”

The lecture was clearly meant to be a long one but Mathew shook it off track with one sentence. “Isn’t that what Alfred is for?”

“Mathew!” The skin around George’s eyes was starting to turn red. His smile showed enough teeth that it had more in common with a snarling wolf than a concerned father.

“I’m right aren’t I?” The words hurt him to say. They tasted like every self doubt and belittling word that had ever been thrown at the supposedly cloned twin. Mathew couldn’t bring himself to look at his brother. He couldn’t bear to see if the words had lite the fires of anger and resentment that Mathew had always felt.

“And what if I don’t care about your expectations?? There’s nothing I can do that Alfred can’t.” Mathew was breathing harder than he should be. His shoulders were practically heaving. The words spilled out of him so fast he could barely breath around them. 

Gilbert reached out. He didn’t even hold Mathew’s hand; he simply brushed his fingers against his knuckles. With just that Mathew’s shoulders relaxed just slightly. Everyone saw it happen.

George’s chest swelled as he tried to take control of the argument again. “Mathew I know that lately we’ve allowed you some freedoms that you haven’t previously-“

“You mean we should be grateful you’ve let us out of the cage.” Alfred’s jaw dropped at Mathew’s sheer gull.

Their father’s face turned several different shades of red. “You have no idea about the things we’ve shielded you from. The world isn’t a good place.”

“Oh! The things you’ve shielded me from. I can name some of the things you haven’t done shit to shield me from. What about seeing my brother-“

“Mattie,” Alfred called out, looking at their father. Mathew glanced at him and bit back what he was going to say.

George’s temper boiled over. “You’re spoiled. Absolutely ungrateful! Naïve! Stubborn! You’re being stupid! You think that pasty kid has any idea what’s good for you? As if he’s not going to just leave when he gets whatever he wants from you. I won’t just stand by and let you ruin your life. Mathew! You don’t have a choice but to-”

“Don’t talk to him that way!” Gilbert spoke before he even thought about it. Mathew was so good and he knew he had gone through some shit that he didn’t even know about, may never know about. He couldn’t stand by and listen to him be put down even if, no especially if, it was coming from someone that should only ever strive to make him happy.

Every eye in the room focused on Gilbert. He continued on without considering where he was going with this, “If you want me to leave I will. I don’t want to…I want whatever’s best for him. But you can’t talk to him that way. He’s brilliant! And you don’t deserve him if you haven’t figured that out yet.”

The room went quiet. George’s nostrils flared. Alfred moved cautiously to his father’s side. He reached out and grasped his arm. He stared as he spoke, keeping his voice quiet and timid. “You’ll like him if you give him a chance.”

George sucked in a breath; the air hissed between his teeth. “I have always trusted you boys to behave and now- “

Mathew’s gestured angrily. Words exploded out of him once more. They had been building up for years and now he couldn’t hold them in. “What do you want me to do marry some heiress that I don’t love and who doesn’t care about me? Quietly have an affair or three paying off reporters and investigators because the moment the shareholders hear they’ll start a riot? That wouldn’t have any consequences I’m sure. And of course, nobody can keep affairs hidden forever so it’ll leak to the press, the police will probably be involved, and the next thing you know the company is being dragged through the mud and stocks are falling.”

Mathew took a breath that rattled his whole frame. His eyes went dark and tears clung to his lashes. He refused cry and Gilbert ached to comfort him. “Or you can let me love him. He doesn’t care about the money, only me. And you can trust him. I trust him and he’s had every opportunity to betray that.

“You… you can’t say that hasn’t been your goal; to protect me and to weed out the traitors. You wouldn’t let half the world think Alfred is your true son if you didn’t want me to find people that I could actually trust on my own.”

Gilbert should probably have felt something about that. The big forever unsaid secret had finally come out to him. Alfred was a clone. One engineered specifically to protect Mathew. He didn’t care at all. His hand encircled Mathew’s wrist. His pulse beat wildly against his fingers. From the sound of it, that protection hadn’t always been an easy thing. 

Their father looked taken aback. His fingers rose up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Alfred’s hand fell away. George’s words were still loud but some of the heat had drained out of them. “That…Oh that isn’t how I’d say that.”

“It’s the truth.” The steel he had inside him was still clear, but Mathew’s voice returned to the soft tones Gilbert loved.

“You should…” It looked like whatever George had to say was physically painful to him, “sit down. We have a lot to talk about.”

Alfred darted into the kitchen as the rest moved into the room. Mathew didn’t let go of Gilbert’s hand. He pulled him along to sit on the couch next to him. Their thighs pressed together. His father sat a large chair diagonal from them. A thick, awkward tension hung in the air.

Their dad sat with his legs spread and a cup of something that went cold long ago in his hands. His eyes were hard on Gilbert. “So, you, what’s your name?”

“Gilbert Beilschmidt, sir.”

The good news was, he had probably witnessed the worst of what could happen. The bad news was of course that the worst happened and now they had to deal with that. Gilbert had no idea how to do that. Or more accurately he knew he had an uphill battle in front of him. He knew he had to get Mathew’s parents to like him or at least tolerate him, and that’s what he didn’t know how to do. He didn’t have the lineage or the bank account to make that easy.

But he did have Mathew’s love and that’s all he really cared about.

“And you and Mathew you’re…,” his father gestured wordlessly.

Gilbert glanced at Mathew, he was staring at his father quietly. Gilbert tried to smile. “Dating, yes. For five months now.”

George ran his hands through his hair. He laughed humorlessly. “Five? Jesus, boys. You sure know how to keep a secret.”

Alfred came back with a steaming cup of coffee. He wordlessly held it out to his father. When he took the new cup, Alfred took the old one and practically melted into the couch. “Maybe we should keep it that way. Just a little thing between the men in the family.”

“Alfred.” His father’s eyes were warning Alfred to be very, very careful.

Alfred shrugged. “I’m just saying we should get him a tux before he meets mom.”

“Maybe,” their father murmured.

Mathew eyed Gilbert’s figure, imagining sharp lines and smooth cloth. He’d look dashing in navy. Maybe with a new hair style to run his fingers through.

Alfred clapped his hands to bring attention away from his brother mentally dressing and undressing his boyfriend. “And you should definitely take me to get something to eat now.” He pointed at his father and shot a teasing glare at Mathew. “He’s been holding me hostage all evening, waiting for you.”

“My deepest apologies,” Mathew said with exasperation.

“Apology accepted. Now I’m thinking Japanese. Sound good to you dad?”

Their father was still watching Gilbert intently. “Do you know what you’re getting into?”

Gilbert smiled back at him. “Nothing I don’t want to be in.”

Alfred snorted and George finally cracked a smile. “Well then, as you’ve seen, these two are quite the conniving pair. It runs in the family.” The brother’s couldn’t resist sharing a knowing smile as Gilbert nodded. He ran his hand up and down Mathew’s side. “We won’t be too terribly long, so whatever you’re going to do, don’t take too long. I’ve seen enough tonight.”

They all agreed. Alfred and his father (or should he even be called that from a cloning point of view, a genetics test should say so but he was created from Mathew’s DNA so did that make Mathew his…Gilbert didn’t want to think about it. Although he should probably take another ethics class to fit his head around all this.) headed out.

As soon as the door shut behind them. Mathew fell back into Gilbert’s arms. “Sorry about that. He’s not normally…like that.”

Gilbert nuzzled Mathew’s hair. “Well he was trying to protect you. I get that.”

“It still wasn’t ok,” Mathew said with an expression that was almost a pout. It was too cute to call a frown. Gilbert fought to keep from laughing at him.

“I’ll just consider it a practice round for your mom.”

Mathew rolled his eyes. “Oh, she wouldn’t fight you like that, not with Alfred and Dad on your side. She’d probably just order a hit or something.”

“That has some pretty terrifying implications Birdy.”

Mathew scrubbed his hands against his face. “Sorry I’m joking. I know it’s not funny.”

Gilbert cocked his head and peered between Mathew’s fingers. “You sure about that?”

Mathew’s lips twitched into a smile. “Probably.”

“Probably?”

“At least eighty percent.”

“Well keeping in mind my possible imminent death, do you still want to…” He gestured towards Mathew’s bedroom door.

“Sure, but how do you feel about watching a movie before we pick up where we left off? Something light?”

“Birdy, I’d do anything if it’d make you happy.”

* * *

* * *

Some humor that didn’t fit into the final draft:

“Beside all the heirs and heiress look like melting inbreed poodles,” Alfred said.

“Alfred! You are _not_ helping,” Mathew hissed.

“Gotcha.”

**Author's Note:**

> Posted later than planned because the world sucks more than usual. Stay safe out there and learn how to speed read. (Read the first and last sentence of every paragraph and only read the whole thing if it sounds very important. )
> 
> Also that line about the Japanese med student does refer to Kiku and it will be explained by the next work in the series.


End file.
